A magnifient debut

5 March 2015

rovers.co.uk

Rovers manager Gary Bowyer was full of praise for the way Doneil Henry took his first outing in English football in his stride in the win over Sheffield Wednesday.

It was a hectic day for the young Canadian, that started as being part of a 20-man squad as West Ham United prepared to take on Chelsea, and ended with 90 minutes and a win under his belt for Blackburn Rovers.

Signed on a month's loan that lunchtime, a hamstring injury to Alex Baptiste meant Henry was thrust straight into the action at Hillsborough and he didn't disappoint with an outstanding debut performance.

"He got on a train at 1.30pm from London and arrived in Sheffield at four o'clock," explained Bowyer.

"He came and met the boys at 4.30pm, had some tea, did pre-match, got his tracksuit on, got on the bus and went and played a magnificent debut. That was his day.

"We have to thank everybody at West Ham that has helped to make it possible, but what a performance from him.

"He deserves an unbelievable amount of credit. He's 21 years of age, he isn't 22 until April, but the way he just went about it was immense - absolutely immense - against one of the toughest strikers in the division in Nuhiu for the way he plays the game.

"In the first 5-10 minutes you expect him to be nervous and rightly so, but he grew into the game and he was immense, he and Killa were terrific.

"He's a competitor, he's agressive, he is quick and he's a defender, you saw that.

"The lad can play when he needs to and he's got an unbelievable character as well. I've said that all along about the people that we bring in, he's a top lad."

The best of the action from the win over Sheffield Wednesday will be available to view on our YouTube channel from 12noon today.